YoungDubFan

I’m sorry for your experience but not surprised. There have been many posts on these boards about bad experiences with Viking. Viking advertises the most and a lot of people book with them because they don’t realize there are other companies. Based on what I’ve read on these boards, Viking does well if there aren’t any issues. Unfortunately, their customer service really declines when there are issues. Maybe see if you could cancel for a full refund and check with other companies to see if they have availability on a similar sailing with the same dates so you can keep your air tickets?

1gail1 - cabin keys are now like hotel keys - just tap to open door.

TMLAalum - I did a Tulip Time cruise RT AMS at the end of April / early May. Even though the ship docked in 2 different locations, both were a very easy walk from the Central station - less than 5 min. I did B to A Rhine back in 2014 and Avalon again docked very close to the Central train station. It seems that these are the locations that Avalon uses.

I found my agent through a referral from a friend. She works for a local travel agency. The first 4 years I worked with her I didn’t live in the same city and we were able to conduct business via e-mail and phone. I now live in the same city she is and have on occasion visited her in person for some planning, but most is done via phone and internet. I have given her contact info to a lot of people I meet and all are happy with her. I’m sorry we can’t give recommendations on this board.

I’m thinking the form is tied to your bringing the collapsible wheelchair. Viking needs to confirm that in the case of an emergency and / or the need to evacuate the ship, that you are able to get yourself off the ship and do not require any assistance from any Viking staff. I’m sure the form is tied to some type of potential liability issue.

Has anyone done the Active & Discovery Tour on the Danube from Croatia to Serbia? I’m interested in this itinerary but am not interested in strenuous hikes. I would be up for walks. If anyone has done this and can share the daily newsletters, I would appreciate it. I’ve sent an e-mail to Avalon asking for the dailies but I’m not sure if they will send or not.

Yes you can sign up in advance but almost always you can make changes on board. I did a Tulip Time cruise that finished on May 7. Our Cruise Director gave a port talk every night at 6:45 and would talk about the next day’s options and sometimes options for future days. He would say if there was an absolute deadline to make changes due to needing to secure buses, etc. We had quite a few people make changes to what they had signed up for once they had more details on the excursions. It’s great that Avalon allows for such flexibility.

Here are some pics of the Tranquility II. I was in cabin 101. I think I was one of the only ones to use the hot tub.

Here are some of my pics from Keukenhof. It was a gorgeous day.

Here are some pics from the Aalsmeer flower auction. Photos don't come close to capturing how large the facility is. Unfortunately since COVID, you don't get to see any of the auction, but it was still fun.

Flight to US was uneventful. We actually landed a bit early and Customs / Immigration at Detroit weren’t open yet so had to wait on plane for about 5 min. Sailed through with Global Entry / PreCheck. Now I’m waiting on my connecting flight home. I’ll try to post some pics once I’m home.

Sat morning we had a 2 hour walking tour of Willemstad. It was a very cute town. We were treated to a 1/2 hour organ concert in the Protestant church. It was nice, but a bit too long for me. Back on the ship we had a genievre & Dutch cheese tasting. I learned I am not a fan of genievre but it was fun. We had lunch and started sailing back to Amsterdam at 12:45. We were scheduled to arrive between 9-10 pm. My flight is at 7:55 am Sun. Morning. The staff on the ship recommended leaving the ship about 3.5 - 4 hours before the flight. My cab was scheduled for 4am but came early so I left the ship just after 3:45 am. I was at the airport by 4:10. KLM doesn’t open for check in until 4:30 so I was first in line. No waiting at security. I got to my gate just about 4:45 so I have quite a wait. No shops are open this early. I’ll get a light bite if they open around 6am. I had a great trip and will post some photos once I’m home and have downloaded from my camera.

Had an afternoon excursion from Veere to the Delta Works. We went to a museum dedicated to the Feb 1, 1953 flood, which is located in the upper portions of the caissons used to plug the dikes. It was very interesting. Then we had a short walk through Veere - very cute town. Tonight is the Captain’s Gala dinner. We are in Willemstad tomorrow. Having a great time and can’t believe it ends on Sunday morning.

We were in MIddelburg this morning. We had a walking tour of about 1.5 hours. We then had about 45 min of free time but not much was open this morning so I came back to the ship. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go inside any of the churches or the abbey, but it was a nice tour. It rained for about 15 min at the start and then stopped. We sail to Veere for this afternoon.

I enjoyed the afternoon excursion. We did the chocolate before the beer, which was a good thing. The shops were right next to each other. I am not a big beer drinker so was happy that I was able to try the Kriek (cherry lambic) & a Huberlus Wit (wheat) beer. I liked both of these much better than the 2 they were pouring for the rest of the group. Once back on board, the string trio La Stravda played for 1 hour in the lounge. Then we had happy hour for 1 hour and a delayed dinner at 7:30. We are sailing to MIddleburg for tomorrow morning.

This morning was the included walking tour of Ghent. 55 of the 89 passengers chose to go to the all day tour of Brugge. I did the tour of Ghent. It was a nice walking tour. We went into the Cathedral at the end then had about 30 min of free time. Back to the ship for lunch and I have signed up for the optional Canal cruise, beer & Chocolate tour that leaves at 2pm this afternoon.

kleencruise - This is my 3rd Avalon cruise. I’ve previously done Basel to Amsterdam in 2012 and Paris to Normandy in 2016. I really like Avalon and like the way they proactively take care of their guests if anything goes wrong. On the day we had to spend the full day at Keukenhof, they gave every passenger €30 for lunch. That day one of the buses had an accident on the way to Keukenhof and the passengers on that bus were delayed almost 1.5 hours to get to Keukenhof. To make up for the inconvenience, Avalon gave everyone on that bus a free optional excursion. Avalon just has great customer service. I also picked Avalon because they waive the single supplement on select cruises on every itinerary. I”m traveling solo so that made this cruise much more affordable. Due to the cold / cool spring, tulips this year didn’t start blooming at Keukenhof (in the outside gardens) until April 13. The cooler weather delayed the start of the blooms and will allow the blooms to last longer. It was very lucky for us as the flowers were at peak when we were there. I’m off for the included tour of Ghent. 55 of the 89 passengers are taking the full day optional excursion to Brugge.

This morning was the included walking tour of Antwerp. They had shuttle buses to take us closer to the center of the old town. We made our way past guild houses, the city hall & Grote Markt. Then we had a guided tour of the Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedral. There are quite a few Rubens painting in this church. We then had free time to explore a bit. There was a bus back to the boat at noon or you could stay in town. Buses left from the ship at 1:30 & 2:30 for those who wanted to return to Antwerp and returned to the ship at 2, 3, & 5 pm. I think I’m going to relax on the ship for the afternoon. I am on vacation after all. All of the food has been great so far.

Spent the full day at Keukenhof gardens. The tulips are in full bloom along with many other flowers. It was absolutely gorgeous. Pictures do not do it justice. I’ll post some once I’m home. I understand we needed to spend most of the day there so the ship could get repaired but I felt it was a bit too long. I did buy a pair of wooden clogs. They were a great deal at under €40. I was looking at a pair 11 years ago when I went to Zaanse Schans and didn’t get them because they were almost €100. We’re going to do a cruise around Rotterdam harbor before dinner.

Just back from the excursion to Muiderslot castle. It was about a 30 min drive from the ship. We left at 1pm and were back on board around 4:25 pm. Nice excursion. After we toured the castle, we walked into the town of Muirden and had a drink and a piece of apple pie at a local pub. While we were walking, a few boats were going through the lock system so we got to see the locks work and the bridge swing closed to cars and open to boats. Our guide says most of his trips don’t get to see that. We had a bit of light rain at the castle but the sun is out and it is a bit windy. Having a great time.

The included excursion to the Aalsmeer flower auction left at 6:15 am this morning. It was about a 40 min drive from the ship to the auction house. Then we had way too much time to walk through and look at the flowers being moved around. All bidding is now done virtually so we were not able to see any of that occurring. We were able to watch the flowers being moved around which was fascinating. After the auction, we went to a local hotel / restaurant in Aalsmeer for breakfast. We were back at the boat around 10:35 am. Now I’m taking a nap before the option excursion to Muiderslot castle at 1 pm.

The flower auction is one of the included excursion choices on this cruise. The other morning option is a canal cruise.

There are only 89 of us on board, which is great. Great first day. Drinks flowed freely during orientation talk / happy hour. Luckily for me the same waiter from the bar was my waiter at dinner so the wine flowed freely as well. We were informed that the Tranquility has to go into dry dock on Tues to get a propellor repaired. They are changing the half day at Keukenhof to a full day at Keukenhof. They are also adding a morning excursion in Rotterdam along with an afternoon excursion to Kinderjkik for anyone not doing Keukenhof. No one can stay on the ship. We are also being given 30€ each for lunch. Avalon knows how to take care of its passengers when there are issues. I’m off to bed soon since I’m doing the flower auction tomorrow morning It leaves at 6:15 am. Feel free to ask any questions about the tranquility or Avalon. Please remember to pack your adapters. The number of passengers who didn’t bring one and were surprised that one is needed is surprising. I even gave one of the passengers one of my extra ones.

This morning we left the hotel at 8:45 am and took a 10 min bus ride for an Off the Beaten Path walking tour of the Western Islands. This was about 2 hours in total with a 30 min coffee / tea stop in the middle. Then we took the bus to the ship for lunch in the lounge. My cabin was ready around 12:20 so I was able to unpack. Those taking the Zaanse Shanz excursion left at 1pm. The weather is so beautiful here that I think I’m going to spend the afternoon up on the sun deck, relaxing and reading my book. It’s too nice of a day to be in a museum.

Had a very full day. Left the hotel and took bus to Central Station. Walked around a bit. Joined a walking tour at 10:30, then Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum at 12:30. Lunch outside the museum in the beautiful sunny weather. Tram to Central Station, bus back to hotel and luckily my room was ready. Given a glass of Prosecco at check in. Now to rest and shower before 5 pm cocktail meeting with Avalon rep.